Beyond the Backlash: Highlights from the 2025 TASC Annual Lecture

As political movements across Europe confront a rising tide of backlash, how can progressives reclaim the core values of solidarity, justice, and universalism?

That question took centre stage at the 2025 TASC Annual Lecture, “Beyond the Backlash: Rebuilding Progressive Values and the Left,” held this week on 27th of May at the Royal Irish Academy. It was TASC’s most attended annual lecture to date, with over 130 people present — and for the first time, a live video feed to an overflow room.

Chaired by Eamon Ryan, the event featured philosopher Susan Neiman and journalist Mark Little in a timely discussion on how the left can push back against cultural attacks that distort ideas like justice, equality, and ‘woke’.

The evening began with a welcome from TASC Chairperson Mike Jennings, who reminded the audience that events like this are precisely why TASC exists — so that there are spaces where difficult questions can be asked and meaningful dialogue can be had.

Mike Jennings opens the 2025 TASC Annual Lecture at the Royal Irish Academy — the most attended in TASC’s history. (Photo by Cian Redmond)

Building on that, Eamon Ryan, former Leader of the Green Party and Minister for the Environment, chaired the event and, in his opening remarks, reflected on how the lecture’s themes resonated with his own political journey.

Neiman, who travelled from her home in Berlin, began by sharing her personal background – shaped by the Civil Rights Movement in the American South and years of work on philosophy, justice, and moral clarity. Drawing on her latest book, Left Is Not Woke, she explained how the far right has used identity debates to hide economic inequality and weaken democratic values.

Mark Little, Eamon Ryan, and Susan Neiman (left to right) catching up before the event — a panel that complemented each other exceptionally well. (Photo by Cian Redmond)

Little, with his background in journalism and digital media, built on Neiman’s arguments and further added how narratives are shaped and often distorted in online spaces. Both he and Neiman complemented each other well, bringing together political philosophy, media, and activism in a way that was both thought-provoking but also inspiring.

The evening concluded with a lively Q&A session, covering questions from the role of entrepreneurship on the left to the future of collective organising.

The back room of the Royal Irish Academy, filled with over 130 attendees taking part in a lively Q&A session. (Photo by Cian Redmond)

In a week when headlines were once again dominated by polarising debates over academic freedom and protest on university campuses, the conversation felt especially timely and urgent!

Thank you to our speakers and to everyone who joined us for an evening that reminded us why ideas, open conversation, and hope continue to play a vital role in shaping politics today. Your participation made the event truly special.